LAC Group Launches Innovative Library as a Service Platform with Manzama as Foundational Competitive Intelligence Partner

LOS ANGELES, April 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- LAC Group, the Leader in Information Curation and Knowledge Management, today announces the launch of its Library as a Service ("LaaS") platform for law firms and corporations. LAC's LaaS includes a spectrum of capabilities encompassing traditional on-site staffing and library management as well as cloud-based content delivery platforms and LAC's distributed network of North American and UK-based researchers, librarians and information specialists.

Clients can access services through LAC's configurable Knowledge Services Portal or via existing organizational resources (including intranets, email or other internal portals). Library as a Service leverages both client-side and LAC subscriptions to offer complete end-to-end library management solutions and/or incremental offerings that augment existing in-house capabilities. As an example, a specific client-directed research request submitted through the portal is securely routed to one or many LAC professionals. The research is conducted using a suite of proprietary and authorized third party tools. Answers/data are quality checked and ultimately submitted back to the requestor. LAC Library as a Service maximizes a firm's resource utilization, extends subject matter expertise and curates data streams driving monetization opportunities.

"Organizational information management is undergoing a massive sea change," noted Deborah Schwarz, Founder and CEO of LAC Group. "On one hand, the availability of and access to data is at unprecedented levels. On the other hand, organizations are coming under increasing pressure to contain information related spending. Those that can flexibly respond to these pressures while leveraging the power of information will generate significant strategic advantages," she concluded.

A cornerstone of LAC's Library as a Service is its Competitive Intelligence Engine powered by Manzama. Manzama is a Listening Platform that automatically scours the web for information and then analyzes and classifies this information for relevance and importance. Leveraging LAC's distributed work force of tested/trained researchers and information professionals, Manzama delivers a turnkey service of curated, on-point information—effectively culling the wheat from the chaff—to each stakeholder within the organization.

"LAC rounds out our technology platform in that it will give our mutual clients domain experts that will be well positioned to help with a variety of strategic initiatives. This will be a game-changing feature for firms that have the right vision, but lack the necessary skill set and/or resources to execute on their vision. The LAC/Manzama combination will give them a trusted solution to ensure they are getting the right information at the right time," commented Peter Ozolin, Manzama CEO.

"LAC's partnership with Manzama creates real strategic advantages for both companies," added Tyler Leshney, LAC EVP-Strategy and Development. "Coupling the power of Manzama's search and classification algorithms with LAC's distributed labor pool creates a unique, curated offering that we think will redefine the competitive intelligence playing field."

In addition to Manzama's competitive intelligence capabilities, LAC Library as a Service includes the Knowledge Services Portal, integrated library solution (ILS) offerings, spend management consulting services, rights clearance services, cataloging and metadata services as well as a full suite of primary and secondary research offerings.

About LAC Group

LAC Group has been helping its clients enact best practices and solve library and archival challenges since 1986. From information sciences staffing, to metadata creation, to consulting, spend management and physical media storage, LAC Group has a complete suite of solutions designed to help maximize the utility of real-time and archival information. A WBENC-certified woman-owned business, LAC Group continues to be the trusted choice of leading law firms, major studios, broadcasters, government agencies, Fortune 500 companies and universities seeking to manage the ever-increasing challenges of information and knowledge management. The company operates from three facilities in Greater Los Angeles (Century City, Burbank and Thousand Oaks) as well as offices in New York, Rockville, MD, Chicago, Denver, Boston and the United Kingdom.

About Manzama

Established in 2010, Manzama Inc. is a company founded by legal professionals who've pioneered the legal industry's first Listening Platform. The platform classifies and ranks thousands of legal industry and client industry blogs, news sites, and other social media applications to uncover the most relevant and important information in support of a law firm's or legal professional's business development and practice strategies. Manzama counts among its clients half of the AMLAW 25, and over 90 additional law firms within the NLJ 350, including firms both in the United States and based internationally.

John Fox
LAC Group
(408) 840-3692
[email protected]

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SOURCE LAC Group